Strikeforce Columbus: Dan Henderson and the Top 10 Chins in MMA Today

Despite winning via decisive knockout last night, Dan Henderson was dropped and hurt in the first round of his title fight against Rafael Cavalcante. However, he was able to make a split-second recovery and hold on to gain a single leg takedown and ultimately, the victory.

Henderson has faced an array of dangerous strikers in his MMA career such as Anderson Silva, Quinton Jackson, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, etc. Yet, he has not suffered one T/KO during his lengthy career.

No. 10: Chris Leben

Although he was on the losing end of a technical knockout in his last fight against Brian Stann, you cannot deny that Leben has one of the most granite jaws in MMA.

The only other person to KO Leben was Anderson Silva, in the latter's UFC debut. An excellent example of Leben's chin was in the Akiyama fight, where Leben was basically knocked out on his feet, but still coming forward.

Joe Rogan summed it up perfectly in that fight, "Chris Leben's a zombie..."

No. 9: Jon Fitch

Fitch has been knocked out once in his career, in a light heavyweight fight against Wilson Goueveia. His UFC record stands at 13-1-1, with his only loss being to welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre.

Fitch took an immense beating and was dropped several times in the GSP fight, but his stamina and will to survive kept him in that fight until the final bell.

No. 8: Chris Lytle

Despite having over 50 professional MMA fights, the Indiana native has only been stopped twice in his career, and both stoppages were due to cuts.

Although fellow veteran Brian Ebersole came close with a lethal knee, Lytle's chin is generally regarded as one of the best in MMA. Even renowned striker Thiago Alves never came close to knocking Lytle out (although he did win the fight due to a cut on Lytle's face).

No. 6: Fedor Emelianenko

Although it appears as if Fedor is now on the downside of his legendary MMA career, the Russian pioneer has never been truly knocked out.

Evidence of his great chin is on display in his fights against Kazuyuki Fujita and Kevin Randleman. Especially in the Kevin Randleman fight where Fedor was slammed on his head and seemed literally unfazed.

No. 5: Anderson Silva

Anderson "The Spider" Silva has never been knocked out in his MMA career, and he has never been close to being knocked out.

His great chin was on display in the Chael Sonnen fight, where the challenger continuously took Silva down, battering him with solid shots until being beaten with a last gasp triangle/armbar combination.

No. 1: Dan Henderson

He has fought such a high caliber of opponent throughout his 35 fight career and neither one of them has come close to knocking him out. This is a guy who is a relatively average sized 205-lb. fighter, yet he fought Rodrigo Nogueira when Nogueira was 230 lbs.